Carbon Stocks in Miombo Woodlands: Evidence from over 50 Years

Miombo woodlands are extensive dry forest ecosystems in central and southern Africa covering ≈2.7 million km2. Despite their vast expanse and global importance for carbon storage, the long-term carbon stocks and dynamics have been poorly researched. The objective of this paper was to present and sum...

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Main Authors: Bulusu, M., Martius, C., Clendenning, J.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: MDPI 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/114451
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author Bulusu, M.
Martius, C.
Clendenning, J.
author_browse Bulusu, M.
Clendenning, J.
Martius, C.
author_facet Bulusu, M.
Martius, C.
Clendenning, J.
author_sort Bulusu, M.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Miombo woodlands are extensive dry forest ecosystems in central and southern Africa covering ≈2.7 million km2. Despite their vast expanse and global importance for carbon storage, the long-term carbon stocks and dynamics have been poorly researched. The objective of this paper was to present and summarize the evidence gathered on aboveground carbon (AGC) and soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks of miombo woodlands from the 1960s to mid-2018 through a literature review. We reviewed the data to find out to what extent aboveground carbon and soil organic carbon stocks are found in miombo woodlands and further investigated if are there differences in carbon stocks based on woodland categories (old-growth, disturbed and re-growth). A review protocol was used to identify 56 publications from which quantitative data on AGC and SOC stocks were extracted. We found that the mean AGC in old-growth miombo (45.8 ± 17.8 Mg C ha−1), disturbed miombo (26.7 ± 15 Mg C ha−1), and regrowth miombo (18.8 ± 16.8 Mg C ha−1) differed significantly. Data on rainfall, stand age, and land-use suggested that the variability in aboveground carbon is site-specific, relating to climatic and geographic conditions as well as land-use history. SOC stocks in both old-growth and re-growth miombo were found to vary widely. It must be noted these soil data are provided only for information; they inconsistently refer to varying soil depths and are thus difficult to interpret. The wide range reported suggests a need for further studies which are much more systematic in method and reporting. Other limitations of the dataset include the lack of systematic sampling and lack of data in some countries, viz. Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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spelling CGSpace1144512025-01-27T15:00:52Z Carbon Stocks in Miombo Woodlands: Evidence from over 50 Years Bulusu, M. Martius, C. Clendenning, J. dry forests aboveground biomass systematic reviews Miombo woodlands are extensive dry forest ecosystems in central and southern Africa covering ≈2.7 million km2. Despite their vast expanse and global importance for carbon storage, the long-term carbon stocks and dynamics have been poorly researched. The objective of this paper was to present and summarize the evidence gathered on aboveground carbon (AGC) and soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks of miombo woodlands from the 1960s to mid-2018 through a literature review. We reviewed the data to find out to what extent aboveground carbon and soil organic carbon stocks are found in miombo woodlands and further investigated if are there differences in carbon stocks based on woodland categories (old-growth, disturbed and re-growth). A review protocol was used to identify 56 publications from which quantitative data on AGC and SOC stocks were extracted. We found that the mean AGC in old-growth miombo (45.8 ± 17.8 Mg C ha−1), disturbed miombo (26.7 ± 15 Mg C ha−1), and regrowth miombo (18.8 ± 16.8 Mg C ha−1) differed significantly. Data on rainfall, stand age, and land-use suggested that the variability in aboveground carbon is site-specific, relating to climatic and geographic conditions as well as land-use history. SOC stocks in both old-growth and re-growth miombo were found to vary widely. It must be noted these soil data are provided only for information; they inconsistently refer to varying soil depths and are thus difficult to interpret. The wide range reported suggests a need for further studies which are much more systematic in method and reporting. Other limitations of the dataset include the lack of systematic sampling and lack of data in some countries, viz. Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo. 2021-06-30 2021-07-29T07:45:32Z 2021-07-29T07:45:32Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/114451 en Open Access MDPI Bulusu, M., Martius, C. and Clendenning, J., 2021. Carbon stocks in Miombo Woodlands: Evidence from over 50 years. Forests, 12(7): 862. https://doi.org/10.3390/f12070862
spellingShingle dry forests
aboveground biomass
systematic reviews
Bulusu, M.
Martius, C.
Clendenning, J.
Carbon Stocks in Miombo Woodlands: Evidence from over 50 Years
title Carbon Stocks in Miombo Woodlands: Evidence from over 50 Years
title_full Carbon Stocks in Miombo Woodlands: Evidence from over 50 Years
title_fullStr Carbon Stocks in Miombo Woodlands: Evidence from over 50 Years
title_full_unstemmed Carbon Stocks in Miombo Woodlands: Evidence from over 50 Years
title_short Carbon Stocks in Miombo Woodlands: Evidence from over 50 Years
title_sort carbon stocks in miombo woodlands evidence from over 50 years
topic dry forests
aboveground biomass
systematic reviews
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/114451
work_keys_str_mv AT bulusum carbonstocksinmiombowoodlandsevidencefromover50years
AT martiusc carbonstocksinmiombowoodlandsevidencefromover50years
AT clendenningj carbonstocksinmiombowoodlandsevidencefromover50years